Breaking the Quiet

In the painting ‘Breaking the Quiet’, I was not expecting the meditation chapel to be so tall.  It was also sitting on the top of a beautiful hill, which from below looked as if it was on a gentle slope.  The cedar trees were very unusual and unlike no other trees I had seen in the surrounding area.  It felt like a very special place.  The day we visited the chapel with the group, I rang the chapel bell.  I was surprised how very quietly it ran from the inside, yet outside it rang through the valley.  I went back to photograph those wonderful trees the following day and the light and atmosphere was very different.  A dark thunder storm was brewing and the light was spectacular, but was still the calm before the storm.  As I walked around the corner of the building I saw a pinion jay sitting on the top of the cedar, the wind picked up, there was a flash of lightning off in the distance that I saw reflected in the chapel window and when I looked back there was again nothing but quiet and stillness.   It was this dramatic change on light and circumstance I wanted to put down in watercolor.